Hide your phone
by Jess Violet
Summary: Hint from Annabeth: hide your phone from your dormmate. Percy texts Annabeth, what her dormmate reads. Who decides to reply and find out who this Percy is. And other one-shots. 2: It's about the message
1. Chapter 1

The phone beeped.

Annabeth's roommate Noelle crawled over to the phone. "Who would…" she mumbled.

"Was that Annabeth's phone?" Lizzy asked surprised. "She never gets called."

"I know," Noelle agreed. She settled on a couple of pillows and reached for the phone. "It's a text."

Immediately the movie they were watching with the group was paused and the other two girls moved over to the phone. "What does it say?" Lizzy asked.

Myra was a bit nervous. "Guys, we really shouldn't just go through her phone."

Lizzy and Noelle exchanged glances and grinned. Noelle smiled at the phone. "It says: _hey, smiley face_."

"From who?" Lizzy tried to grab the phone from Noelle, but she held it out of reach.

"Guys…"Myra warned again and glanced toward the kitchen. "She could be back any second. Popcorn can't take that long." She was completely ignored.

"From some Percy, I don't know," Noelle answered.

Myra couldn't help but feel curious. "Percy who? Brother? Father? Friend? Boyfriend?"

"Let's find out. Text back! Text back!" Lizzy coached, fist-pumping the air.

Noelle's fingers danced above the keys. Finally she typed the same message the guy had sent Annabeth and hit send. Almost immediately the phone beeped. _Watcha doin? _ It read. "What should I say?" Noelle asked.

"This is wrong," Myra tried once more.

"Just say we're with friends watching a movie. Not lying," Lizzy offered and snatched the mobile out of Noelle's hands.

"And ask what he's doing," Noelle pointed.

"I give up," Myra sighed and let herself fall back on the pillows. But when she heard her friends laugh, she quickly sat up again. "What? What did he say?"

"HA! You care!" Noelle exclaimed.

"Whatever," Myra rolled her eyes, then grabbed the phone. "He says '_sounds fun. Aren't the girls you're with all asking who you're texting?_' Totally."

"How does he know that?" Lizzy asked.

"Because he knows girls do that," Myra said, giving meaningful glances to her friends.

Noelle texted back. "_'Yes. But they're getting popcorn now. Why'd you ask?_'"

"What do you mean?" Lizzy asked.

"I want to know more about this guy," Noelle explained.

"What guy?" Annabeth walked into the room, plopping some popcorn in her mouth. Quickly they unpaused the movie and hid the phone under a pillow.

"Eh…that guy," Lizzy pointed at the first male that walked onto the screen.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "What's more to know? That's the lead. There's been so many flashbacks."

"Right…" Noelle mumbled. She quickly glanced around and bumped over the bowl filled with popcorn. "Oops. My bad. Could you get some more?"

Slowly and a bit suspicious Annabeth raised herself out of her seat. "Okay…"

Lizzy picked up the phone again as soon as Annabeth was out of sight. It showed they had sent a message that looked like '_sdhfnohjvnsa.n sdjf mvoS_.' From under the pillow. Percy had answered with '_What? And I'm the seaweed brain? J.'_

"What does he mean with Seaweed Brain?" Myra wondered out loud.

Lizzy shrugged and answered the text: "_Had to hide my phone. Girls came back._"

"_Got it._" The phone replied.

"Does this guy have nothing else to do than text?" Myra mused. "No, don't text that!" Lizzy grinned and hit send.

_Haha! No, not really. I'm pretty bored. But I love texting you J._

"It bothers me we still don't know what his relationship is to Annabeth," Myra said. "And don't ask him that."

"I'm not going to. That would kind of blow our cover, wouldn't it?" Noelle replied simply.

"I think we can cross off father," Lizzy said. "Or it would be awkward. 'Love texting you smiley face?'" she airquoted.

"I still don't agree with this, by the way," Myra tried to assure them both. She got skeptical looks back.

_Wanna do something tomorrow? _ Percy asked.

"Boyfriend or brother?" Noelle wondered. "I really don't know. I've never heard of a brother or a boyfriend."

_Wise girl? Still there? _

"Nicknames!" Lizzy said victoriously.

Myra shook her head. "I have nicknames for my brother and boyfriend. Says nothing."

Suddenly Noelle's face split into a grin. "We'll simply say…" her fingers flew over the keys into a message. _Sure. I'll see you tomorrow. _"Then we'll know.

Lizzy groaned. "Can't wait that long…"

"Curious meddlers," Myra muttered under her breath.

One more beep, quickly followed by another. Noelle smiled and showed the screen to her friends. _Great! Can't wait! It's a date. _ And added to that: _Apollo would be proud. Love you. _

"Boyfriend," Lizzy announced happily. She typed _Love you too_ and send it.

Myra opened her mouth to tell them to stop it now, but Lizzy was already searching through Annabeth's pictures. She was about to tap one, when Annabeth came back in, carrying a new bowl of popcorn. The phone was thrown across the room in the hurry. "So, what did I miss?"

"Not much," all three girls said in unison and all filled their mouths with popcorn.

Of course Annabeth didn't trust it one bit and knew something was going on, but decided it wasn't interesting. "Who's that?" she pointed at a guy in the movie.

Nobody knew. Nobody had been paying attention. "Uh, that guy was just introduced," Noelle rambled. "His name is Percy," she added, enjoying the reaction.

Annabeth almost spit out her snacks and smiled to herself. "Funny name."

"Have you heard it before or something?" Lizzy asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, a friend of mine has that name, funny coincidence," Annabeth said. "Or it would be, if that man hadn't just called 'Percy' John."

"Maybe that's his middle name," Lizzy tried.

"I'm pretty sure it's John," Annabeth said, reading the back of the movie's box. "And John's pretty important."

Noelle waved it away. "Probably heard it wrong."

They all knew John was nothing like Percy, but Annabeth let it slide with a strange look.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Noelle screamed through their dorm when the bell rang. She raced to the door, but Annabeth wasn't putting up much of a race. She just sat down on her bed, reading a book, not even giving Noelle a sign of that she heard her.

Noelle opened the door, finding a guy on their doorstep. He was wearing a raincoat wet from the weather, but strangely enough, his black hair was dry. His green eyes were kind. "Hi," he said politely, "Is this Annabeth's dorm? Or am I wrong again?"

Noelle had to keep her jaw from dropping. When she recovered herself, she answered, "Yeah, I'm her roommate, Noelle. Who should I say it is?" She knew damn well who this was. And she was going to have to compliment Annabeth.

"Percy, nice to meet you," he said.

Noelle nodded. "Do you want to come in, or wait while I get her?"

Percy shrugged and Noelle couldn't admire the muscles. She opened the door widely and he stepped in. "Annabeth?" Noelle called.

"Yes?" came the response. Noelle noticed Percy smiling as he heard her voice.

"Someone's here for you." Noelle opened the door to their bedroom, where Annabeth was. Percy stayed in the doorframe. When Noelle was sure Percy couldn't see them, she gave Annabeth a dubble thumbs up and grin.

"What?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

Noelle rolled her eyes and pushed her roommate out of the room. She stayed in the open door to watch.

"Percy?" Annabeth was pleasantly surprised.

Percy smiled and wrapped one arm around her waist. "Hey beautiful," he greeted her and kissed her on the lips.

After a second or two she pushed him away. "Hey yourself. But what are you doing here?"

Noelle decided this was a time to jump in. She pushed both of them to the door and collected Annabeth's jacket and bag. "Well, have a good time and behave, you kids, bye!" She closed the door behind them. Leaning back against the wall, she flipped open her own phone and dialed Lizzy and Myra's dorm. "Definitely not her brother."

* * *

On the other side of the door the couple just took that behavior as normal and went outside. Percy kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked, the rain not bothering them.

"So what are you doing here?" Annabeth asked. "Not that I don't like you being here."

"I texted you yesterday," he told her. "Never thought a daughter of Athena could forget something."

"I'm a demigod, not an elephant, Seaweed Brain."

Percy laughed. "But I'm serious, I texted."

Annabeth searched her pocket for her phone. "Maybe I didn't get your text. I found my phone in the sink yesterday. No idea how it got there."

Percy's forehead scrunched up in confusion. "But you texted back."

"That's weird. I don't remember." She unlocked her phone. "No, no new messages." She scrolled to her old texts. "Yes, a couple from you and replies… how weird." She read the conversation. "This isn't me."

"I knew it!" Percy said. "You didn't call me Seaweed Brain once."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Oh my gods. They texted you! I was the one getting the popcorn! They…"

They stopped walking. Percy put one calming hand on her shoulder. "Relax. It's not…"

"You didn't say anything about the gods, did you?" Annabeth asked, interrupting him.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck, straining to remember. "I might have mentioned Apollo." He saw Annabeth was going to freak out about that. "But they can't think anything of that, really. Relax. Let's just go to the movies."

Annabeth nodded. "Fine. But as soon as I'm back, I'm going to be living alone."

"But you have a roommate…"

"Not for long, I don't."

**Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Set during MoA, in the aquarium.**

**Just another one-shot, I wanted to post and really to lazy to think of a new title. Maybe I'll turn this story in a one-shot collection when I have the inspiration. Hope you enjoy!**

While sorting through the shirts, something in the corner of the shop caught Percy's eye. The machine was old and hardly used, the little balls still inside.

Quickly Percy threw all the shirts in one bag. If Percy didn't fit any, Frank, Leo or Jason probably would.

He went over to the machine and searched his pockets. Nothing. Not a penny. He turned to Frank, who was examining snow globes. "Are you sure you don't have any change?" he asked hopefully.

Frank shrugged. "I have nothing. But why would you…" his eye fell on the machine next to Percy. One of his eyebrows rose. "Aren't you a little old for that? Or, you know, not a girl?"

"It's not for me," Percy grumbled.

It didn't clear Frank's confusion. "I never guessed Annabeth to be a girly-jewelry-girl."

"She isn't!" Percy swiftly denied. Annabeth wouldn't be caught dead in pink. The only jewelry she wore was the camp-necklace, her father's college ring and an occasional earring she only thought were annoying.

"Then why would you want to buy that? It's just terrible stuff."

Percy scanned the room. "It's about the message, right?" He was about to just crack-open the machine, when his gaze landed on the register.

Walking behind the desk, Frank's eyes widened. "No! Perce, that's just stealing!"

Percy pushed a button and the register swung open, hitting him in the stomach.

"See? Karma," Frank smirked.

"It's not stealing," Percy told him and picked up a dollar. "When they open the machine, they'll get it back."

Frank couldn't deny that and watched as his friends inserted the coin and out rolled a little ball. His mind was still trying to grasp why Percy wanted it so bad. What message was he talk-… Oh no. "You're not going to…" he started, but didn't know how to finish. It was absurd.

"Yes I am," Percy simply stated. No humor in his voice, completely serious.

"Dude, you're sixteen!"

"And only the fates know if we'll make it to seventeen!" he threw back and tightened his grip around his purchase. "I've thought about it for a while and you're not going to change my mind."

Frank knew he couldn't. So he stopped objecting.

* * *

"Wise girl, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Percy looked so nervous, his hand twitching and constantly tapping his pocket.

Annabeth turned to her boyfriend. "Actually, I had to discuss…" she motioned to Hazel next to her. Percy's face fell and she immediately felt guilty. Yes, she wanted to be alone with him, but they really needed to focus too.

"No," Frank suddenly came out of nowhere and took Hazel's hand. She looked up at him surprised. "I need to borrow Hazel for a moment." Hazel had no clue what that was about.

Their boyfriends had a mental conversation that Annabeth guessed went like: _Thanks, dude. No problem, man. _But Percy seemed relieved and grateful. What was going on?

Percy took her hand and led her away from the others. She turned around once to see Frank staring after them with a mixed expression. He clearly knew.

Percy led her down the halls of the ship. He paused in the central room for a second and looked at the images of halfblood hill. His face held mostly sadness and home-sickness, but also… regret?

Annabeth opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but he already yanked her hand again and she decided to wait it out. She also recognized where they were going now. The stables.

A smile played on her lips, but quickly shook it away. They needed to focus on the war. "Percy, we shouldn't…"

He turned to her and put his finger against her lips. "Not a word."

"But…" she started.

"No."

"The war…"

"No." He sounded like a stubborn child.

She hit away his finger. "Percy, we don't have time…" she made her voice extra stern and a bit scolding, but it didn't work.

"Which is exactly why I want to do this."

She was surprised at his seriousness. This wasn't about kissing in the stables. He was planning something. "Fine."

Slowly, a smile appeared on his face and he pulled her by the hand into the empty stables.

He walked around a bit as if to check there was nobody here and the lid wasn't suddenly going to open.

Annabeth stayed at the door with her arms crossed. "So what is it?" she asked.

He held out his hands silently with his goofy smile. She rolled her eyes with a smile and stepped forward, taking his hands.

"Annabeth Chase," he started. "I wanted to wait until Greece, at the Er.. Eruch…"

"Erechtheum?" she offered.

"Yes. There. But I just couldn't. This isn't the most beautiful and romantic setting, but you were right. It's like where we started.

"I realize this is a terrible time, not a great place, this not a velvet box," he took out something from his pocket. It looked like a yellow surprise egg. She stifled a laugh. He continued: "But this is only a promise that someday I will take you to that perfect place in a perfect time, with a real black box, a real ring. And I'll get down on one knee and ask you this same question." He did as he said, lowered on one knee. Annabeth held her hand before her mouth. "Wise Girl, I know you've always wanted to build something permanent. We started building when we were twelve, laid the last stone on my birthday and now I want to make it as immortal as the gods, or even more. Annabeth, will you marry me?" He cracked open the egg, revealing a plastic ring.

Annabeth shook her head in disbelief and smiled, tears appearing from joy.

Percy quickly stood up at his confusing mixed answer. He ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Look, I know we're only sixteen, and at war, but that's only why I want you to know…"

Annabeth threw her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his. When she pulled back, she used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears. "Yes, Seaweed Brain. By the Gods, yes."

A grin split his face. "Really? You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Oh, you're absolutely crazy," Annabeth laughed.

He joined her laughter and then held out the ring for her. She unclasped her campbead-necklace. "So I'll never lose it," she explained. Percy took the necklace and laced the ring next to the other of her father, then clasped it around her neck again.

"Maybe this is better. The others would make a big deal out of it," Annabeth said solemnly. She knew they had to keep it a secret even though she immediately wanted to contact Thalia and tell her. Maybe that wouldn't be a good idea anyway, since Thalia was a _hunter_.

Percy nodded. "Frank'll just assume you said no when he doesn't see a ring on your hand."

"I doubt it would've fit," she said, looking at her hands.

Percy grinned and kissed her fingers with a gentleman's bow. "We should be heading back," he suggested. "Hedge will be getting suspicious."

"He has a good reason to," Annabeth mused, playing with the ring.

* * *

When they stepped into the central room, everyone was collected there. They all looked up at the couple. Most of them immediately went back to what they were doing, what not meant what they should be doing. Frank eyed them a second longer.

Hedge slammed his club on the table. "Where've you two been off to?"

Piper squealed and hid her mouth behind her hands. Her eyes sparkled. "And where'd the new ring come from, Annabeth?"

Annabeth's hand flew protectively to her necklace.

Hodge turned a furious red, the steam could come out of his ears any second. The pencil he was holding snapped in two.

Leo grinned. "You have some explaining to do, Mr and Mrs Jackson."

**No, Piper isn't a squeal girl usually, but she's stil a Aphrodite's kid.**

**So what if Annabeth's roomies find the ring? That'll be the next one. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for the reviews! This one's a bit short, but I have another one coming soon. This one should've been before the other. The one I promised's coming up!**

"You are so dead."

Noelle jumped up at the threat. Her furious roommate stood in the dooropening, her gray eyes blazing as they bore into her.

"Eep," escaped her mouth. She'd never made that sound before. Quickly she cleared her throat and managed in the most innocent possible way she could: "What are you talking about?"

Annabeth dashed through the room towards her. "What were you thinking?" she yelled.

Noelle ran for her life. She hid behind their beds, but Annabeth jumped right over them. She yelped and scurried back the other direction, Annabeth hot on her trail. She made it to their study desk only Annabeth used. Using the cliché trick of staying on the other side, Noelle finally caught her breath. Annabeth didn't have to and launched into a lecture. "Going through my phone?! I told you all not to!"

"Can you blame me for getting curious?" Noelle tried.

"Yes!" her roommate said loudly. "You cannot go through my stuff!" She dashed to one side and Noelle copied her.

"'Cause you were hiding a boyfriend!" she sang teasingly.

"Ugh!" Annabeth groaned annoyed. She ran back left around the table, one round, two, and suddenly changed direction. It didn't work, Noelle had seen it coming.

"So how long've you been dating this guy?" Noelle inquired from the safe side of the desk.

"About as long as I've known you," Annabeth replied smug, only because she knew it would tick Noe off.

"What?" she exclaimed. "Were you even going to tell us?"

"Probably not." They sprinted in a circle once more, to no avail. Annabeth was torn over the decision of throwing her desk aside, but it would scatter all of her hard work.

Noelle started backing away slowly, edging towards the door. Too bad Annabeth noticed.

"Oh no you don't!" They both raced for the door.

Even though Annabeth was faster, Noelle had a head start and made it first. She turned to mock some more and collided into a person standing there. She almost fell, but the person caught her.

She faced Annabeth while she was locked in place. "Yes, Percy, restrain her so I can kill her."

Percy did not let Noelle down, but held her away from his mad girlfriend. "Wise Girl, I think you might be overreacting just a little."

"Overreacting?" Annabeth echoed and crossed her arms. "She invaded my privacy."

"So? You lived at camp for years. You shouldn't know the word privacy."

Noelle had heard of this camp. Percy went there too? She knew she shouldn't be planning more snooping around when she probably wouldn't live to do it, but couldn't help herself.

"Seaweed Brain, you're on whose side, now?" Annabeth asked, a edge in her voice telling him there was only one correct answer.

"Seaweed Brain?" Noelle laughed. "What's that?"

Percy slowly set Noelle down beside him, as if he now just remembered she was there. Annabeth immediately surged forward. Just as fast Percy reacted and stepped forward, blocking whatever Annabeth was going to do. Noelle cowered back, watching the two stare down. They whispered, and Annabeth scowled. Percy sighed and explained something. Annabeth pursed her lips stubbornly, but finally gave in. "Fine." She looked over at Noelle. "You're off with a warning." She turned away and disappeared into their bedroom, probably getting back to her book like she always did when she was grumpy.

Noelle nodded to the empty stop Annabeth had been before and then looked back at Percy. He was frowning at the open bedroom door, yet a smile played on his lips. "I'm sorry," she felt the need to say.

Percy smiled at her. "It's okay. But you should be careful. Annabeth's really cautious with her stuff."

"I noticed," she grumbled. "But I meant you." He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Coming here, and now she'll be grumpy."

Percy grinned and started towards the door.

"You shouldn't," Noelle warned. "Nobody should disturb her when she's like this. You just saw." As soon as she said it, she knew that was lame. Percy hadn't flinched one bit at the fire in his girlfriend's eyes.

So he smirked. "Don't worry. I know how to deal with her." He disappeared into the room like Annabeth did. Soon, she heard Annabeth. "No, Percy. No, I don't…" then she started to giggle, what Noelle had never heard before. "Percy! Put me down!" Her voice raised. "Perseus Jackson! Put me down now!"

Not much later, Percy appeared again, carrying a kicking Annabeth bridal-style. Noelle knew better than to stay there.

**Wasn't sure how to end it. Little bit awkward. **

**Ah well, please review!**

**Also, I might be planning a percy Jackson-Pokémon crossover, our heroes becoming trainers. Who would want to read that?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here I am again. Please tell me what you think!**

Noelle stumbled out of bed, one hand gliding over the nightstand to steady her, the other on her forehead checking for a fever. She shuffled over to the bathroom silently, hoping not to wake her roommate up. Annabeth was a really light sleeper, she woke to the tiniest footsteps.

So it might've made sense she couldn't sleep through Noelle's elephant parade.

"Noe, what are you doing?" Annabeth mumbled sleepily.

"Going to the bathroom," she replied with a hushed tone.

Annabeth turned over to look at her clock. "At three am?"

"I'm sick."

"Fine," her roommate grumbled and wrapped herself up in the blankets. "But throw up silently."

Noelle rolled her eyes, but groaned from the headache. A rush blacked out her sight and sight for a second. She tried to stabilize herself on the closest thing she could lean on. This was Annabeth's nightstand. Under her weight the stand fell over and Noelle fell with it. Things crashed and rolled over the floor. "That's it. I'm calling in sick tomorrow," she moaned from the ground and pushed herself up.

Annabeth's light flicked on and the owner jumped out of bed. Noelle reached out her hand for Annabeth to help her up, but the other girl fell to her knees and scanned the floor in a hurry.

Noelle turned to her side and looked over the dark floor. Beads were spread everywhere, rolling even more apart each second. She knew how much her friend loved that necklace, even though for unknown reasons. Feeling guilty she sat up and began collecting the marbles.

She picked up a green one. Curious, she turned it around it the light. This one had a fork on it. Strange.

Another held a tree. One more pictured a building Noelle guessed as the Empire State.

Before she could be sure, Annabeth snatched them away from her and laced them on her necklace. Noelle moved up, but Annabeth wasn't done searching. Her face became more stressed every second. Desperately she checked under her bed again.

"What…" Noelle started, but Annabeth waved her away.

"It's okay," her voice gave away nerves. It also told her she didn't want her roommate to know what she was looking for.

Noelle wanted to object, but knew she shouldn't get into a fight with Annabeth. Again. Never ever again, she shuddered. Annabeth was a nice girl, but so freakin' scary if she wanted to be.

So she left for the bathroom. Going there, her bare foot stepped on something. The thing stuck in her sole like Lego. Swearing out loud she jumped around, holding her foot. She plucked the thing out of her foot and found it was a plastic ring. One you could buy in those surprise egg things.

Annabeth's head whipped up when she heard Noelle's scream. She let out a breath of relief when she saw the ring. Then cried out "NO!" when her roommate hung it above the trashcan.

"What?" Noelle screamed back, pulling the ring back to her. Before she knew it the other girl had taken the gimcrack from her and placed it on the necklace, between the green fork bead and a real ring she knew had been Annabeth's father's. Annabeth seemed only satisfied when she felt the plastic's presence on her collarbone. That's what she was stressed about? Noelle thought. "You're more worried about that fifty cent thing than your friend who's dying of fever?" she exclaimed, a bit indignant.

Annabeth smiled apologetic and felt her forehead. "You're not going to die, drama queen."

Noelle pursed her lips. "Still, that thing's…"

"One dollar," Annabeth supplied. "But worth so much more to me. It's about the message right?"

"What message?" Noelle asked suspiciously.

"A promise," Annabeth said. "Something permanent." She twisted the ring between her fingers lovingly. "Just a promise."

Noelle's eyes widened. "A promise ring?" she yelled.

Annabeth shushed her and sighed. "This is why I didn't tell you. Overreacting…"

"Overreacting?" Noelle echoed. "This is perfectly normal! You're engaged?"

"It's not an engagement!" Annabeth denied swiftly. "Not yet."

"But…why… when… who… Percy?" she stuttered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No, Octavian." Noelle raised an eyebrow confused. "Of course Percy." Annabeth decided it was enough. She fell into her bed, her back turned to Noelle. "I'm going back to sleep. Goodnight."

Noelle nodded curtly, unable to say anything. She slipped into the bathroom. The first thing she did was call Lizzy and Myra's dorm. As the peep waited for them to pick up, she tried to calm her breathing.

Finally Lizzy picked up. Her voice croaked through the line. "What? It's three…"

"Annabeth's engaged!" Noelle interrupted her.

"Not engaged!" Annabeth yelled through the walls. Groaning, she turned in her bed and dreaded the morning. Knowing how rumors and gossip spread in this school, she'd be pregnant and eloping tomorrow. Eloping did sound good…

**This won't be the last one, I think. I like stories from mortal perspective of those two. And I have some other scenarios in my head of people finding the ring. Maybe some old bullies will be regretting. Do you have anything you want to read?**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so sorry it took so long. I've been writing bits and pieces, not really finishing up one. And the most used excuse ever, school. This week's ridiculous. Multipple tests, presentations, a very important test that's going to count for my exams, read a french book (I suck at french). So yeah, I took a little bit longer. Hope you like this one!**

Annabeth sighed deeply. Every time he snuck up on her again, she felt her heart race and butterflies rise as she saw him from the corner of her eyes. Then either she'd turn and see him, or he'd open the mouth she wanted to seal with duct-tape. Her heart just sagged and the butterflies when back to sleep.

"Hey Calli," he greeted when he sat down across from her. Annabeth didn't bother put down her book. She knew it would only encourage him. She didn't react at all. She hated what he called her. Yes, she looked like a california girl, but she didn't call him York. Or Yorki. Wait, that's a dog. Thinking about it, he resembled more of a pit bull.

He folded his hands in front of him on the small table and leaned forward. "Annabeth?"

She held the sigh back. Lowering her book, she asked him politely, "Yes?"

He smiled so creepily Annabeth wanted to whip out her knife. "You know we could just go here together instead of meeting here every time?"

Her knife itched against her hip where she always carried it. "Or you could stop stalking me," she offered.

Matt laughed and held up his hands defensively. "I come here for coffee too." Maybe this was the most known coffeeshop in the area, but she never saw him with a cup.

Annabeth raised her book back in front of her face and closed her eyes to calm herself down. He reached out and lowered the book to the table. Completely annoyed now, she made it clear in her expression. He didn't see it. "Maybe you're secretly the one always going where I go."

She raised an eyebrow. Did he really just say that? "Matt, if you don't…" she warned.

"Then you'll what?" he asked before she could finish. His smirk showed his chipped teeth. He said it was from a fight. She doubted it.

She realized he didn't know her at all. "You really think I'm a dumb harmless blonde, don't you?"

He seemed taken back by the question. When he restored himself, he slid one of his hands farther over the table and took her hand. "No, but I think we both…"

She pulled her hand back. "Not the first time you're wrong."

He leaned back amused. "About the dumb blonde or that you and I…"

"I'm already meeting someone here," she interrupted him.

"Oh really?" he asked skeptically.

"I told you before, I have a boyfriend," she simply said. Percy had warned her of her temper before. She couldn't use her knife, no matter how much she wanted to. If needed, she had to show him her ring, but really didn't want to. Matt would probably laugh at the plastic and offer her a real one. The guy had money to blow and liked to show it.

As expected, Matt shook it off with disbelieve. "I get it. You use that for the annoying boys." She snorted. He didn't realize what he just called himself. "But you don't have to keep it up with me."

Annabeth had had about enough. She slammed her book on the table, stood up, leaned over the table and grabbed his collar. "Listen, _buddy_. I have I boyfriend. I don't…"

Matt only smirked. "See, you want me so close."

With a flick of her wrist she pushed him, letting him flail and fall backwards with his chair. While he tried to scramble to his feet, her hand was already on her hip, ready to unsheathe her knife. A voice stopped her.

* * *

"What's going on here?"

Both looked up. Matt saw the guy towering above him. Quickly he jumped up, but the guy was still a bit taller. He didn't like that. Dusting off his expensive jacket, he grumbled, "Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing," the guy persisted. Matt looked up at him annoyed. He didn't seem to notice, or simply care. "It looked like she was beating you up."

"It's not any of your business, is it?" Matt demanded.

The guy shrugged, yet there was a fierceness in his eyes. "I think it is."

"How so?"

"The lady said she has a boyfriend. I think you should _back off._" He took a threatening step closer, but Matt didn't step back.

"Who do you think you are anyway?"

The guy got a smile on his face and said with too much glee. "Her boyfriend."

Matt feel silent for a second, eying the competition. Then he laughed. "I see, trying to protect the damsel in distress, aren't you? I bet you don't even know each other."

"I'm not…!" Annabeth yelled. She dashed forward, but the guy held out an arm to catch her. She scoffed and crossed her arms, blowing a gray streak of hair out of her face in an annoyed manner.

Matt watched her, then looked back to the guy, finding him doing the same thing. His expression held affection and it made Matt doubt if they did know each other. "Calli," Matt started.

The guy held up his hand to stop him. "Calli? What?" He looked from Annabeth to Matt with amusement. "You're accusing me of not knowing her and you don't even know her name?"

"He does," Annabeth said. "It's just what he calls me."

"See?" said Matt happily.

"I don't like it," Annabeth added, more to the other guy.

He had finally stopped smirking and his face had grown jealous and angry. "How long has this guy been bothering you?"

Annabeth shrugged it off. "I can take care of it."

"That's not what I asked," he persisted. He turned his attention back to Matt. "Do you even understand the word no? Who do you think you are?"

Matt only replied with a glare. The guy returned one a hundred times scarier.

"Matt Sloan," Annabeth answered for him. "Rich parents, gets all he wants, you know the type."

The guy's smirk was back. Even though Matt had started to hate the smirk, the glare was simply terrifying. "Matt Sloan, huh? Should've known you'd end up like this."

"Wha… what?" Matt stuttered. "Who…"

Annabeth glanced from between them. "You know each other?"

"Yeah, and you do too," the guy smiled.. "Nice to see you again, Matt. Still enjoy giving kids wedgies? Tackle-baseball? Pebble fights? Repaired your teeth yet? Hm, see you haven't. Do you have your own Porsche now to drive into road-signs?"

Matt was completely silent. How did this guy so much about him? Especially eight grade? "Who the hell are you?"

He held out his hand. "Percy Jackson."

Matt didn't take his hand. Instead, he stumbled backwards. The loser Percy Jackson had grown into this? Tall, strong, a great girlfriend (if she was) and quite intimidating.

"Even better," Percy continued, shoving his hands back in his pockets, "Remember that blonde girl I left with?"

"Blonde girl," Annabeth raised her hand, as if to say 'present'.

Matt remembered all right. He pointed at Annabeth and screamed, "You punched me in the face!"

"Would be glad to do it again," she nonchalantly while examining her nails like she wondered if she could use them to scratch open his face.

Matt muttered something, but really didn't know what to say. Finally Percy put his arm around Annabeth and led her away. "Come on, we're going to miss our movie." Over his shoulder, he called, "Nice to see you again, Matt." After they'd left the cafeteria, Matt pulled his chair up and sat down, completely shocked. Putting his arms on the table he saw Annabeth book. She'd forgotten it. No way. Annabeth never forgets a book.

"Here it is," Matt looked up at the voice and just sees Percy grab the book from the table. He put his under his arm and then smiled to Matt. "Oh, by the way, Tyson's a army general now with a pretty redhead at his arm. Thought you'd like to know."

"I really didn't," Matt groaned at his own failure.

Percy grinned. "I know. That's why I told you." Then he dashed back outside where Annabeth was waiting for him. "Coming!" he yelled.

Matt forced himself to smile. At least he wasn't whipped.

**Also, I want to thank you all for your suggestions. Keep 'm coming. I really liked some of them. **

**And I discovered this one and my other one-shot Bedsheets have been added to a community The Inspiring Ones. Whoever put me there, thank you so much! **


	6. Chapter 6

**I update irregular! I can say I'm sorry, but I can't do much about it. School sucks, I'm burnout, and I just bought at least four new books. Read Divergent, now Insurgent. Maybe I can something about the reading, but I can't stop. For those who read the books, please no spoilers, and no, I had the name Christine before I read Divergent. (Recommended).  
**

**I know this isn't really Percabeth, But I also wanted another point of view, wouldn't Percy's mortal friends notice something if he was missing for eight months? Maybe the mist would cover up a lot, but I don't know. This is maybe a month or two into the year.  
**

Stupid Christine, Dave muttered over and over in his head, not saying out loud. Of course not, she'd make him take his words back by force. He'd never should've listened to her. Of course he got sick after that ridiculous dare. But he didn't have much of a choice. His escape option was to kiss Julie and he just couldn't do that to her or Nathan.

Now he had missed class. Maybe he was a little thankful, because he hadn't even known there was a test. But still, now he had to go back to school in his free time later on to take it anyway.

He stopped in front of the teacher's lounge. The door was open, and it wasn't as crowded as usual. He raised his fist to knock, when he heard it.

"Percy hasn't been at school since summer. We're just concerned," he heard and his fist hung in the air silently. The teacher was right. Percy hadn't returned. It had been strange in the beginning, nobody had heard from him. People had started to worry, but soon they'd just waved it aside, thinking he had to switch schools or something. Dave knew it wouldn't be the first time, Percy'd been a good friend of his.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you," another teacher replied. Curious about Percy, maybe a bit worried, though he wouldn't admit it, he peeked around the corner. He recognized both teachers; his mentor, Mr. Ward and his English teacher Mr. Blofis. Neither of them were even rude or curt, but Blofis had a clear posture of defense, his arms crossed, stiff and straight, contrasting Ward who was leaning forward, his hands wide trying to persuade the other teacher into talking.

"I just want to know where the boy is," Ward asked friendly, with a undertone.

Dave wondered to himself why an English teacher would know more than a mentor, his friends, or the entire school, but Ward seemed convinced.

Politely Blofis answered he can't. "Now if you would excuse me," he said, with a same hidden _if you would _finally _excuse me_. He walked past the mentor, but Ward grabbed his arm. They both were silent for a second, facing the other way. Then Ward spoke again, softly. "Look, I know you're protecting Jackson of whatever it is, but the school's just concerned."

Blofis gritted his teeth, unknown to Ward. He closed his eyes in attempt to calm himself and took ragged breaths.

"Your stepson has missed a lot," Ward persisted. Dave's eyes widened. Stepson? "Is it something…"

Blofis yanked his arm free and turned around to face him. Dave couldn't see his expression anymore, but his voice gave it away. "I can't tell you!" he yelled, his fists shaking beside him. "Because we don't know either!" Blofis sagged on the couch and buried his face in his palms. When he continued, his voice was trembling with withheld tears. "Sally and I've been searching and asking and waiting and hoping and praying. Nobody knows. No-one. He just vanished. One day to the next. Something, some sign to tell us he's safe. Something to tell us he's _alive_."

Dave let himself fall back against the door in shock. Percy could be dead? It didn't make sense.

He weighed his options. Bursting in with the teachers, stay there and listen, or go back to tell everyone else?

"I just…" he heard Paul murmur and the choice wasn't even a choice anymore. He didn't move a muscle afraid of being heard and the conversation would stop. "I don't know what to do anymore. Sally is holding her faith, but I know she's crumbling."

Dave wasn't known to be polite to upset people, but even he knew going in and pestering the poor man about his 'stepson' was over the line.

"I'm so sorry," Ward whispered. "I had no idea."

Blofis shook his head. "No, you couldn't." He stood up tiredly. "I'm leaving." He announced. "Have a good day."

Ward just nodded, not knowing what to say.

Dave heard the footsteps coming, but had underestimated the distance as he was lost in thought. Where could Percy be? There was no way... he couldn't be dead. Why? Nobody hated him, right? Percy didn't have enemies. He wasn't popular, they sometimes picked on him a little, but he never was rude. He always helped you out, you could count on him. It just didn't make sense.

"Dave?" Dave looked up at Mr. Blofis's suspecting face. He had hid all the stress and sadness, but his expression still gave away he knew Dave had listened. "Can I help you?" he asked, pressuring him for truth in his tone.

Dave shook his head quickly. "I needed to talk to Ward," he said, pointing at his mentor past him.

"Mr. Ward," Mr Blofis corrected, always an English teacher.

"Sure," he said. "Him."

He passed Blofis and stalked into the teacher's lounge. Looking over his shoulder he saw Blofis bury his hands in his pockets, then corrected himself and straightened up, walking to his class confidently. Dave had to admit Blofis had been his favorite teacher before, now he'd sealed his place there.

He found Ward sitting on the couch, one hand steadying his head. "I can't believe…" he muttered to himself. When he saw Dave's shoes on the floor on front of him, he quickly looked up and smiled at him. "Dave," he said, "what is it?"

Dave had honestly forgotten. "I uh…" What did he need again?

Thankfully, Ward did know. "The test you missed, right?"

"Right!" Dave exhaled, but still nervously shifted on the balls of his feet. He wasn't nervous about the test. His mind was still where Ward's probably was too.

The teacher checked his agenda. "I have you scheduled for Tuesday. Is that okay?"

Dave nodded, still running through the options of where Percy could be. Very few popped up.

His feet couldn't bring him there fast enough. "Guys!" he yelled through the hallway, not caring about the people giving him annoyed looks. They stoped their conversation. Julie looked up to him from where she leaned against the lockers and overlooked Nathan doing late-homework. Christine sat in the windowsill, one of her feet dangling off, swinging over Nathan's homework, but he didn't even notice or had given up. She took out her ear buds to listen.

"I overheard teacher talking," he said, only then stopped to catch his breath.

"About?" Christine asked, not even waiting for him.

"Percy," he wheezed.

"Percy?" They immediately all ask. Dave lets them all bombard their questions and took the time to breath in. "How's he? Where is he? Why'd he leave? Did he change school? Is he coming back?" They were all so excited and concerned, almost jumping up and down from the word. He knew. He just couldn't get himself to tell. Julie would be crushed, even though there's a chance he's fine. A small chance. "He's not coming back yet," he finally settled with.

They bombarded with questions he didn't know the answer to. Even his parents didn't know. So he added something to take their mind of it for a second. "But hear this," he said. They all shut up to hear. "Mr Blofis… is Percy's stepfather."

No way!" Christine exclaimed wide-eyed.

"Awesome!" Nathan grinned.

"Blofis is a nice guy," Julie agreed.

It was something, but they wouldn't be satisfied. They would go look for answers. And they wouldn't find them.

**Most of you wanted Nancy Bobofit meeting Percy again after I put up that one about Matt. It will come, I promise, I'm working on it, but I'm not happy with it yet. It can take a while. Also, I'm going to do these guy's reactions to when Percy comes back (BECAUSE HE WILL) and of course Percabeth. I still have a lot of small parts and ideas written everywhere, but I enjoy reading your ideas. They do inspire me. **

**PS: Over a 100 alerts and so close to 100 favs and reviews! Can we reach it?**


	7. Chapter 7

**We reached over a 100! Thank you all so much! I love reading the reviews, really.  
**

**I had so much ideas for how to re-meet Nancy. Yes Nancy, most requested. Either she went to school with Annabeth, she was related to Rachel, saw him at a party, but I decided on this one. **

"The sixhundred floor. Please, hurry."

The strange words caught the attention of the redhead and her friends. All of them whirled around to focus on the stranger.

The clerk behind the desk looked at the visitor blankly. "You'll have to wait in line to go up, sir."

"It's an emergency!" the guy insisted.

He didn't even flinch and turned back to his work. "I'm sorry, sir."

The guy groaned annoyed. "No, you're not. You do this every time! 600th. I need to…"

The clerk didn't even look up anymore. "There is no such thing. The Empire State building doesn't reach 600."

Nancy and her friends laughed. This was just the entertainment they needed to wait out this huge line. "What a moron," one of her friends commented.

"Idiot," Nancy agreed.

"Kinda cute, though," another said. None of them could help looking. One by one they started nodding.

"Do we have to go through this again?" the guy moaned, banging his fists against the desk.

"Sir, I don't know who you are," the desk clerk said, bored checking his computer, the movements made Nancy guess he was playing Mario or another video game.

"Yes you do!" the guy exclaimed. "I come here all the time!"

The clerk rolled his chair over to the other edge of the desk, and started flipping through magazine. "You'll have to wait in line," he calmly said.

"Percy Jackson!" the guy now almost yelled. Nancy's breath hitched. Did he really just say that name?

"What?" one of her friends asked concerned.

"Did he really just say…" Nancy didn't get to finish her sentence to listen.

The visitor paced back and forth while ranting, "You know, Percy Jackson, Poseidon, savior…"

The clerk flipped another page with a sly smile. "Getting it in your big head?"

Percy jerked forward, but stopped himself. Taking a calm breath, he looked around, seeing everyone look at him. He gave an apologetic smile and awkward wave 'get back to your own business.' When he turned back to the staff he had lowered his voice. Nancy and her friends strained to listen. "Dude, just let me up," Percy almost begged.

"Nope," he answered, popping the end of the word. The clerk put down his magazine. "Perseus, there is no 600th floor."

Percy crossed his arms and leaned back with a smirk. "You said it. You said Perseus."

The clerk ignored it. "Sorry, buddy, not gonna happen," he replied.

"Now you're just messing with me," Percy groaned.

"Yup," he popped the p again.

Taking the minute of silence, Nancy couldn't help herself anymore. She burst out of the line and tapped Percy on his shoulder. "Percy?"

Percy whirled around, tense. When he saw her he seemed relieved. "Rach-" then he frowned. "Wait, you're not Rachel." His guards were back up. He pointed at her, his face trying to remember. "But you do look familiar."

Nancy smiled. Even though he looked so different, better, he was still goofy and strange. But she wasn't going to tell. Let's see how long it took him to recognize her. It had been years. He probably didn't remember her.

"Nancy?" he asked flabbergasted.

Surprised she tilted her head sideways, "You remember me?"

"Of course," he scoffed. He seemed pretty smug to look down on her for a change. "You left quite an impression. It took Grover years to gain any self-confidence."

"Grover?" she repeated. It took her a moment. The limp boy with the goatee? Right. Percy's only friend. "You still know him?"

Percy nodded. "He's still one of my best friends." Nancy nodded, a bit embarrassed. She'd changed and felt quite guilty about all she'd done. "Of course it would surprise you I have friends at all," Percy added grimly.

"No!" she quickly denied. Then she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, alright?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You're sorry?" he said skeptically.

"Yes!" She wanted to apologize, but he shouldn't push it.

"You're sorry?" he repeated and snorted. "That doesn't sound like the Nancy I used to know. She'd get someone else in trouble with what she did. Preferably me or Grover."

Nancy sighed. "We both changed, okay?" He sure had gained some confidence. She didn't know what he'd done to become a 'savior' but he was definitely getting it into his big head.

Percy looked down on himself for a second and then at Nancy. "Guess we have."

After a short silence of her thinking what to say and him nervously looking around, she couldn't hold her question. "So any reason why you were asking for the 600th floor?"

The clerk laughed. Obviously he'd been listening all along. He received two glares and Nancy was surprised at how scary Percy was. She remembered the glare he'd given her after he'd pushed her in the water, that had been pretty scary. This was simply terrifying. The clerk shrunk back in his chair and held the magazine in front of his face like it would protect him.

Then Percy turned back to Nancy, slightly anxious. "It was a dare," he told.

Nancy grinned. "That's a good dare. So where's everyone who put you up to it?"

Percy glanced at the entrance. There were hundreds of people passing the building every minute. Of course this was New York, so it was busy. "Don't see 'm right now." He moved his gaze to the group of girls staring at them. "And your friends?"

Nancy waved it away. "They're going to be asking a lot of questions, yeah. But whatever." She smiled, unbelieving how nice Percy actually was. He was just easy to talk to. "So how's Grover now?"

"Good," Percy replied grinning. "He's at the top of his career, great girlfriend, Juniper, happy, doing what he loves."

"Good for him," Nancy said, thinking back at the guy with the terrible acne and limp. But who knew, Percy looks different, maybe he does too. "Wait, career?" she suddenly asked.

Percy's eyes widened at his mistake. "Well, Grover's older than us. He uh… had to repeat some classes. He's a couple years older."

"Really?"

"He's small," Percy explained.

"I noticed," she said dryly. "So what about you?" she asked, maybe a little flirtatiously. Now she knew he wasn't mad and pathetic anymore, yes, he was cute.

He didn't notice. "I'm fine. Still in school, though. Senior."

"A Juniper in your life?" she asked again, hoping he'd get her now.

He didn't. He frowned in confusion. "Juniper's Grover's… Oh," his confusion cleared. "You mean my girlfriend. Yeah." He got a goofy sweet grin. Even though it meant Nancy had no chance, it was kind of cute he obviously loved her. Then he returned to earth. "Yeah. You?"

"Nah," she muttered. "Recently broke up."

"Too bad," he said empathetically. "Who is he? I know a lot of people."

Nancy smiled. "It's a big city. I doubt it."

"Say it," he insisted.

Finally she decided _ What the heck._ "Matt Sloan."

Percy bit his lower lip to keep from laughing. "Yeah, I know him."

"Really?" she exclaimed surprised. "Friends?"

Percy weighed out his hands. "Not particularly." He gave her a challenging grin. "Do me a favor. Next time you see him, bring me up. I swear, it'll be hilarious."

She laughed nervously. "Alright. I will."

Grumbling sounds came from the line. Both of them looked around to the elevator. The doors slid open and revealed a single girl in the entire space, apologizing for the wait. People complained about wasting space and time. The girl muttered apologies and moved through the waiting mass toward the desk.

Nancy turned back to Percy, who she found with the same grin as when he thought about his girlfriend. Oh.

Percy dashed forward and lifted her up, spinning her around. The blonde laughed and demanded to be let down. Percy grumbled she was no fun and slowly let her down, her feet touching the floor lightly. She kept her arms around his neck as her let one arm at her waist and turned to Nancy. "Nancy, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, Nancy."

"Nice to meet you," Annabeth greeted and asked curiously. "Old friend?"

Nancy let out a laugh. "Not exactly." Feeling a bit awkward, she told Percy, "I'll tell Matt if you tell Grover."

"Deal," Percy confirmed. Intertwining his hand with Annabeth's, he left the building, not even looking around, focused on his girlfriend. She saw him kiss her cheek and thought she saw a glimmer of a ring on her necklace. That could've been a trick of the light, but she knew Percy was taken for good.

* * *

All seats were taken. All except one. Nancy exchanged glances with him and she knew it was going to be awkward. Still, she dumped her back on the table and sat down next to him. "Hi Matt."

"Hi," he answered curtly, then looked in front of him.

It was silent as we waited for class to start. Halfway through a boring lecture about satellites, Nancy started going through her conversation yesterday. It was so strange to see Percy again. Then she remembered her promise. "Matt?" she said.

He only grunted in response.

"Do you know Percy Jackson?"

Percy had been right. It was hilarious. Matt did a double-take, spun to her too fast, lost his balance, failed his arms as he fell off his chair. He landed on the ground with a thud, called out to the laughing audience he was okay, and climbed back on his chair where he looked at Nancy with wide eyes. "What?" he hissed.

Nancy held her hand in front of her mouth to keep herself from laughing, but she knew her eyes gave it away. Calming down, she repeated slowly. "Percy – Jackson."

Matt rested his face in his hands. After he looked up again, he didn't meet her eyes. "Why?"

"Talked to him yesterday," she said cheerfully. "Told me to mention him to you."

"Why?" he asked again.

"I saw why, I just wish I'd known so I could've taped it."

Matt groaned and leaned back. "Hate that guy."

"Why?" Nancy asked now with a grin.

He gave her a 'really' look, and explained. "I used to bully him and his only friend back in eight or seventh grade. Made me regret it."

"We have more in common than we thought," Nancy said.

Matt looked at her sneakily. "You too?"

She nodded. "Him and Grover both."

Matt's forehead scrunched up. "Grover?" he asked. "Tyson." He snorted. "Maybe he did have more friends. Tyson, Grover and a mean punching chick."

"You mean Annabeth?" she asked surprised. "She seemed nice."

"Until she punches you in the face, she is."

Nancy decided she needed to get to know this Annabeth better.

**Hope it's not dissapointing. I haven't written Percabeth in a while, been mostly focused on writing for myself, now it's getting hard to not confuse the couples.**

**(Finished Insurgent. Most intense book I've ever read. Now onto Clockwork Princess. All lovely couples, and finally decided I want Tessa to end up with Will. Jem can do better! If he dies, I hate Cassandra Clare. No I can't. I love the books.) **

**Sorry about my reading updates, I just need a place to rant and my family's getting annoyed by me. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Well... Umm... Oops. I promised myself I wouldn't. But well, yeah. I tartarused. Yes, now that's a verb. **

Percy woke from a hairy hand slapping his face repeatedly to check whether he was alive. His senses were spiked immediately, but he didn't move a muscle. Whatever the creature was, it grumbled something to itself and tapped Percy's forehead. Slowly the demigod moved only his arm to uncap Riptide. The creature grunted surprised when Percy drove the sword through it. Flinging his eyes open, he saw the goblin-like monster fall to its side as it shrieked.

He didn't waste time waiting for it to evaporate and turned over. In his arms lay the unmoving body of his best friend and girlfriend.

It had been the most scary moment of his life, counting staring down Gorgons without memories, facing the king titan, watching people die and kill, but seeing her pale face was unbearable. "No no no no…" he whispered over and over, placing his hand on her cheek. She wasn't cold. "Annabeth…" he stroked her hair out of her face. Bleeding, scarred, mouth slightly open, eyes closed, completely limp. "Wise girl, Annabeth, don't leave me now… don't ever. Please wake up," he begged, tears burning behind his eyes.

He gathered her in his arms, but she didn't react, like rag doll he had to hold her head up.

He remembered the fall, the endless fall, the light vanishing in the distance as gravity claimed them. They'd reeled each other in in the air, keeping each other close, never letting go. They'd shown each other a smile before the darkness was all they saw. The drop, the ground, he didn't remember. Now a faint red light source came from under the ground, glowing like lave flowing under the rock floor, seeping through the cracks.

A hiss shook him out of it. His head snapped up at the sound. The creature he'd stabbed stood up, Riptide still sticking through his stomach, coming out of his back. It hissed at him, slowly creeping closer, not even bothering to take out the blade.

Percy returned a hiss, mixing it with a wolf's growl he'd learned from Lupa. Softly he lay Annabeth down and stood up, staying low. He couldn't scare away the creature, he needed Riptide. Close enough, Percy jumped and grabbed for his sword. The creature dashed to the side, but Percy managed to reach the hilt. Immediately it screeched, throwing its head back. Signaling, the demigod recognized. Realizing the monster had tricked him, he whirled and could only watch as two more unidentified creatures appeared out of the shadows on the defenseless half-blood. "No!" he yelled and yanked his hand back. The creature bit down on his wrist, keeping him and his sword unable to help. Screaming out in pain he twisted Riptide. The monster sank his teeth in deeper.

But his scream had woken the other demigod. Instinctively she kicked out on the monsters and rolled away on her feet. She flinched leaning on her ankle, but tried to fight through the pain. Frantically her eyes searched until she saw him. Biting her lower lip, she continued looking around. Then she ran in a different direction and threw herself on the ground in a roll as a monster jumped at her. It sailed right over and crashed with a screech. Still it sprung right back up.

Annabeth picked up something that shimmered in the faint light and threw it. The blade embedded in the creature holding Percy. It howled, letting Percy go long enough for him to pull out his sword, Annabeth's knife and jump to his feet. He tossed the knife back. Annabeth caught it and shouldered her bag with Deadalus's laptop. For the first time in Tartarus they found themselves back to back.

"It didn't explode," Percy exclaimed frustrated. "Why didn't it explode?" He felt Annabeth fend off something behind him.

With a huff she replied, "Check your sword."

"There's nothing wrong with Riptide," he replied, and sliced a creature through just to prove his point. The blade came back covered in golden dust. Confused he muttered to himself.

"Exactly," Annabeth said. She jumped in front of him and stabbed a monster away he hadn't seen in the dark. He twisted and cut down one that was aiming for Annabeth's back. "We're in hell, Percy."

He wanted to reply, but he heard Annabeth scream. Alarmed, he whirled. "What happ-?" One of the creature jumped on his back and throwing him down, pushing the wind out of him. Annabeth snapped out of her current daze and kicked the creature of him. Percy took her helping hand and she pulled him up.

She immediately dashed off, following a creature, and he followed her, protecting her back. She caught up with it and slashed out. It fell, but Annabeth wasn't interested in it anymore. It was the thing the monster had dropped that she wanted. And it was rolling straight ahead into a crack on the ground. She threw herself on the ground to reach it, but it was too late. The ring fell down. Desperately she cried out. Percy took her shoulders to hold her back.

"The ring…" she screamed.

"I know, I know," he said, pulling her close, glancing around. The creatures were starting to circle them. "We have to go."

"But it…"

He grabbed her shoulders fiercely, she kept her eyes trained on the red steam. "Annabeth, look at me." Reluctantly she moved her head, tears were forming in her eyes. "The ring was just the message, remember? I love you, that can't melt away." He softened his voice, realizing he'd been close to yelling. "But right now we have to go."

She swallowed, took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'll get you a real one, I promised before, and I'm still planning on it." He let her go and simultaneously they set off. Percy went before her and slashed at the creatures to create a path. "So no-one can die?" He suddenly asked, not stopping.

Annabeth shook her head. "They can't. We can."

"Great," he said sarcastically.

They ran, concentrated, soon leaving the creatures Annabeth later identified as Kobaloi behind. Still they had to keep an eye open.

When neither of them could continue anymore, Annabeth found a small cave. Still, she didn't dare sit down. Percy smiled at her comforting. "I'll take the first watch. Sleep."

She sat down, but didn't like it. Her fingers twisted the cord of her necklace disturbed, knowing it was missing. Percy tore his eyes away and focused. He couldn't be tricked again.

"Seaweed Brain?" he heard. Her voice was already sluggish. With a smile he watched her lie down and close her eyes. "Wouldn't it really be something for us to do to marry with plastic surprise egg rings?" Her voice dropped out, fast asleep.

He doubted she would ever remember saying this. Still, he grinned and sat down next to her, keeping a lookout. He took her hand for support and confirmation she was okay. "Not good enough for you," he whispered, watching the darkness with the red glow.

**Please come with ideas! I love them! (I love reviews in general)**

**Reading rant: **

**Finished Clockwork princess a while ago. This is not what I meant when I said Jem could do better. But I'm extremely happy Henry made it. He's one of my favs in the books and I was really scared he wasn't going to make it. And still love Sophie. "Excuse me, I have to go murder a cook," best way to end a proposal scene. **

**Haven't started reading a new one yet, been writing for myself and I've been hooked on this tv-series Young Justice. One week, I'm in season two. **

**So anyone suggestions of great book series? (I still have a lot, but you can never have enough!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's hard to write an emotional piece when they talk about cursed fortune cookies. **

It was the moment they'd all feared. The doors were closing slowly, but someone had to be inside. In Tartarus. And never come back out.

They were fighting, screaming, bleeding. Gaia wouldn't just let them leave. All of Tartuarus wanted to keep them, stall them, kill them. Though that would just send them to another part of the underworld.

But they were also fighting between themselves.

Who would close the doors from the inside?

Would it be Nico, who'd been there before and had most contacts in the underworld?

And Hazel was already dead, wasn't she?

So was Frank. He was supposed to have died long ago.

Or Leo, who hardly had anyone left and had know since he'd opened the cursed fortune cookie?

"Shut up!" Piper yelled desperately and whirled around to him, pointing Katoptris under his chin. Leo effectively shut his mouth to keep his jaw from being sliced. "We're your family now, whole of Camp Half-Blood." She pulled her dagger back. "I'll go."

Before she took her first step, Jason held her back. "No. You stay here. I'm the son of Jupiter…"

"And that gives you the right to kill yourself?" Piper argued back. "Or decide who does?"

Jason kept a stone and stern expression. "The leader goes down with the ship right?"

"That would be the captain," Leo said, stepping forward.

"And since when are you the leader?" Annabeth challenged. It was the first she or Percy had spoken since they'd found them. She struggled up from her sitting position, but her knees wobbled and she fell back in Percy's arms. The two had become inseparable, if they weren't already.

Hazel reached out a comforting hand, "Annabeth, you don't…"

"Oh no," Percy grumbled, "She's not going back."

"Percy…" Annabeth started, turning to face him.

He cut her off, "No. Not you." Then he pointed at Jason. "Not you either," then at Leo, "Stay here," to Piper, "No," and Hazel, "Don't you dare," Frank, "Not a chance," Nico, "Really? After everything? Don't even think about it."

That left only one demigod.

"Percy!" Hazel exclaimed. "You're not…" She started in a severe tone, but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

They all knew Percy's fatal flaw. They were all stubborn, loyal and brave, willing to sacrifice for the better and for their friends. But if one of them should be the one to set their plans till the last step, it would be Percy. Personal loyalty.

Before Percy could answer, Annabeth reached in his pocket, uncapped Riptide and whacked him on the head with the sword before handing it to him. "We're fighting until the end."

He looked down at his sword for a second and then at his girlfriend. She gave him a smile of comfort and something sneaky. They all caught it, but only Percy understood. He smiled back and struck. At the door, at monster, at anything that came near.

His blade slashed through monster after monster, killing them over and over again, but it never worked. They stumbled back and hissed, but it was like fighting mortals with celestial bronze.

"Come on…" he mumbled to himself, although not sure what he was waiting for.

"So unfair," he heard Leo mutter beside him. He shot rays of fire, but it hardly slowed the creatures down. Everyone knew they were screwed when Leo stopped making jokes.

They were surrounded. Dead. Could as well be. Yet Annabeth and Percy were determined as the others were ready to drop their weapons. Jason coaxed them to continue and Nico yelled at him to shut up in distress as he stabbed a creature. Nico was probably the only one actually 'killing' the monsters, since the stygian Iron sucked the monster's energy out. But that only worked for a couple minutes.

Percy didn't know why or what, but he trusted Annabeth.

"Just a little longer," Annabeth said, half-heartedly.

The sudden rumble distracted them all. Loudly the doors started to move together. Jason did a quick headcount. All eight were here.

They didn't have time to see whoever was closing the doors before the monsters angrily attacked again, just as determined to keep them here.

Only Percy couldn't bring his attention back. He stared at the gap between the doors, unbelieving that the blond stood there, grinning at him. His eyes widened. "Perce- Look out!"

Percy whirled back in the battle. The first thing he saw was a claw, way too close, meaning already on his skin. It drew blood, raking his jawline to his ear open. Percy slammed the monster down and put his hand to the wound wincing. If he hadn't turned, it would've scratched his throat out.

"'Guess we're scar buddies now," Percy mumbled.

Luke laughed, though strained. He had held the sky, but the doors were heavy. And he couldn't close them alone. "Take care of them," Luke said, motioning to the other seven, but Percy knew he meant other demigods.

Percy turned to the others. "Cover me!" he yelled and dashed. Slashing Riptide, he created a path to the doors. It closed up almost immediately behind him. Annabeth managed to move into the small space. While Percy threw himself at the doors, pushing them closed, she had his back.

"Athena always has a plan," Luke mused. He looked from the ground to Percy with the confident expression Percy remembered from the friend he had all those years ago and had last seen on a different person that stabbed himself to save everyone. "Tell Thalia that I… what… that she…" he took a deep breath even though he didn't really need to. "Tell Thalia," he decided on as the doors started to block out his face.

Percy started to nod, then Annbeth threw a small bag through the just as small opening. "Tell her yourself." The bag's contents spilled over the ground. A flashlight, a water spray bottle, a bent shard of glass and a drachma.

Surprised Luke looked up to her and smiled warmly. "Thanks, sis."

"Athena always has a plan," she smiled at him. The doors loudly shut together. She swallowed hard, trying to keep tears in, not noticing the monsters starting to evaporate around her. "Brother."

**I don't think Luke will actually appear, but I want him to, because I can't kill one of the eight. (Yes eight, Nico's with them now). I'm really afraid he's going to kill off Leo (NOOO) or Nico: Oath to keep with final breath "Lead them there - I promise" read this combo somewhere, my reaction: well, crap. Nico's going to die. But somewhere really relieved, because I love Leo's character. Then I felt guilty and aargh, Luke's back! If people are coming back, why not good ones? So he came back to help! **

**I hope to go back to happier one-shots. **

**Also, I've found this song: Endlessly by the Cab, and it basically describes my second one-shot. I swear I just found it now. **

**And I finished Young Justice, absolutely amazing series! Go watch it! Then, in the last episode, when they're running in circles around a tornado (you'll know by then) stop and tell yourself it's all going to be fine. I've started on a crossover of YJ and Percy Jackson, it's fun to do crossovers. (Son of Sobek crossover's coming out tomorrow! Will take a while before I get it, but still! Excited!)**

**Or I'm thinking of a Korra PJ crossover. **

_After Korra and Mako left the team, Bolin's Fireferrets is two benders short.  
"Bending?" Percy echoed confused as Bolin gaped at the water obeying Percy's every comand.  
Leo sprouted flames from his fingertips. "Does this count?" he grinned wickedly. "Awesome."_

**But I don't have much for that yet, just that. **

**JY actually has a plan already, a part written. With more and more greek monsters attacking the normal world, Chiron needs trustworty demigods beside the Justice league to find out who's trying to bring the gods in the open and wants to start a war, before... well, a war breaks out. **

_"Don't you think it's unfair the heroes get all the credit while we have to fight monsters in the shadows?" Percy asked his girlfriend as he watched the Flash on TV.  
"What," Annabeth said, "you want to put on a mask?"  
The corner of his mouth tugged up. "Maybe." He leaned back. "Then what would my supername be?"_

_"Who are you?" Aqualad demanded, pointing his waterswords at the guy's trident-shirt. He only eyed the sword smirking.  
The girl in grey answered before he could. "Seaweed Brain."  
"We did not agree on that," the guy said loudly.  
The girl crossed her arms grinning. "You just have to get better insults. I could actually go with Wise-Girl."_

**But beside crossovers, what would you like in one-shots? This one was actually inspired by PokémonandPJO, 'Can you do a oneshot about them finding Percy and Annabeth.' Not exactly finding, but it's after Tartarus! Hopefully good enough? **


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the real long wait. Usually it took me one-two weeks, now a month. I haven't been into fanfiction for a while. And of course school year ending, teachers dumping all tests on top of each other. Yeah, we've done nothing this year, so just do this big big presentation that's going to be 25 percent of your final grade. And French, which you suck at? Let's have a test of the entire book. Then there's the excuse of my own book. I continued, went well. Now I'm stuck again. Hate that.**

**Anyway, I wanted to try and write Hide your phone again, tell my brain: Happy one-shots. My mind's reaction: Yeah, no. Apparently my subconscious thinks Percabeth is doomed. Or it just spurts out crack-pieces. Or starts to mix up the characters of Percy and Elwin, from my own book, which is really strange, cause they're not similar at all. **

**Anyway, thanks for sticking with me and keeping up the sweet faves and reviews, we're over 200! **

**This is a continuation of chapter 6. It's a year later, but it's from the pov of Percy's mortal friends. Percy's back! And so am I for chapter 10! Although I will probably still be very irregular with updates!  
**

They hardly recognize him. No, that's not true, they easily recognize him. But he had changed. He changed so much.

Julie saw him first, looking past Dave. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, yet his shoulders were straight and his head held high confidently. His eyes were as clear as always, now fiercer than ever. He silently told everyone not to mess with him, the softness and innocence was gone. So was his gray streak, but a new scar went along his jaw. He was taller, muscular, stronger, older. "Holy…" softly escaped her mouth.

"What?" Christine asked. Julie's eyes were glued on their missing friend like she was afraid he was going to disappear. Christine waved her hand in front of her face. Finally Julie snapped out of it and pointed. Chris, Dave and Nathan all turned to follow her finger.

"He's back!" Nathan exclaimed excitedly. Christine smiled and leaned back, 'I knew he'd come back,' all over her face. Dave's face was more complicated. He stared at his old friend like he saw a ghost. Slowly his face grinned too. He started forward. Then stopped. He watched as three people came into view. One was easily recognizable as Mr Blofis. He came up to Percy, clapped him on the back with a smile that Percy returned. It was honest, yet painful. Then Paul shouldered his briefcase strap, kissed a woman on the cheek and ran up the steps to the school. The woman and the blonde girl turned to Percy and his expression melted into love. He hugged the woman and laughed embarrassedly at something she said. She stepped back, held his shoulder for a moment, then left, leaving with a wave. Finally it was just him and the girl. They stepped forward at the same time and took each other's hands. The girl was the first to speak, her expression heartbreaking. He said something and tucked one loose curl behind her ear. She leaned into his hand and replied. They fell into a hug, embracing like they wanted to squeeze the life out of each other and at the same time so gentle. After a while of watching them whisper, the girl wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned back. Percy's embrace lowered to her waist. Careful she led her finger along her scar trailing his jaw line. His hand raised to her neck where he lifted her necklace. Reluctantly the girl forced her arms leave his neck and took his hand away from her necklace. She stepped back, slowly letting his hand slide out of hers. Finally his hand fell to his side and the girl slowly ran away. Only twenty feet away she turned her back to him.

"That was… dramatic," Chris said. She took a step toward Percy, but Julie held her back. With a grin, Julie said: "Wait. It's not over."

As she expected, Percy stared at the ground for a moment, then dashed forward and caught up with the blonde. He grabbed her by the waist with one arm, spun her around and cupped her neck with his other hand. It was unclear who kissed the other first, but the point was they did. Then she smiled at him and got in her car. Percy waited for her to leave, completely out of sight, before tucking his hands deep in his pockets and he went into the school building.

"Nobody saw anything," Julie insisted when he was gone.

Chris looked at her like she was nuts. "Why?"

"Because," Nathan said, the only one to understand, "That was feakin' emotional. You saw him. You're not pressuring him with anything, understand?" Christine sighed and nodded. When Nathan told you specifically to not or do something, it was serious.

"See? Even Nathan could see that!" Julie exclaimed, throwing her arm in the direction the drama had taken place.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked confused.

Julie hugged the books she was holding closer to her chest to hide her flushing face behind it. "Nothing."

"It means Julie sees those things of people who like each other even if they don't themselves," Chris explained to the oblivious guy, hoping he would finally get the hint.

Under her breath Julie added, "Too bad the guy I like _doesn't._"

"What an idiot," Nathan scoffed.

Chris had to keep herself from hitting either her forehead or the guy himself.

"Dave?" Julie asked to change the subject. Dave didn't look at them. He still gaped at the spot Percy had shown up. "Dave?" she repeated. "Do you understand?"

"What?" he turned back to them, his eyes wide.

"Don't pressure the guy," Nathan repeated.

Dave snorted. "Yeah, right. No, he's got some explaining to do." Before any of them could stop him, he's dashed inside. Julie cursed uncharacteristically.

"Oh, what the hell," Christine muttered. "If he can I can." She quickly followed Dave, the other two yelling after them.

"What the hell dude? Where were you?" Dave yelled as soon as he saw him.

"I don't want to talk about it," Percy replied calmly.

"We thought you were dead!"

"We didn't," Julie piped in, wondering how much Dave knew they didn't.

"A year!" Dave ranted on. "You were gone for a year! Even your parents didn't know where you were! I heard Blofis. They thought you were dead."

Percy scowled of inner turmoil, but said nothing.

"I was worried sick, man! You can at least tell us where you were."

"I can't." With that he slammed his locker shut and left them standing there. However, Dave wasn't finished. He caught up with him and blocked his path. Percy looked at him skeptically.

"No. I'm not taking this anymore," Dave said furious. "You've always been hiding something and now you're going to tell me what."

"You really think I can't get past you?"

Dave opened his mouth to retort, but looking at his ex-best friend, he knew Percy could throw him aside like a fly. He looked like a jock now, the goofy loyal sweet kid gone. Dave's aggressive stand fell. "What happened to you?" he whispered.

Percy looked him in the eye, but didn't say a thing. When he looked away, Dave knew he was fighting in himself. He didn't look up again and Dave just waited. Finally Percy just reached out and pushed Dave out of the way. "I can't."

Dave watched him go. His friends joined him. "That must've been something terrible he went through," Nathan murmured.

Julie just nodded silently. Then she spoke up. "I think we should let him be for a while."

Even though the others nodded, as soon Julie and Nathan were gone, Christine grabbed Dave's arm. "Still want to find out?"

Julie had beat them to him. She tapped him on the shoulder. Dave and Christine stayed in the back, observing what would happen. They both knew if any of them could get to Percy, it was Julie. She wasn't pushy for answers. Though they doubted she would ask those questions at all.

Percy turned to her. His shoulders sagged in relief as he saw it was her. "Hey," he softly said.

"How are you?" she asked concerned.

His face tensed again. "I'm fine."

Julie let her hand fall. "Dave didn't mean to be so mean, I know it. He was just concerned."

Percy aimed his eyes at the ground. "I know."

"We all were, you know," she softly added.

He grimaced. "I'm sorry."

She tried to catch his gaze, but he looked away. "We're there for you."

Percy shook his head. "No." Julie stepped back, hurt. Immediately he looked up again to her. "No, I mean, Julie, I'm sorry. Not for this. I really don't want to talk about it." Julie nodded. She didn't ask questions, she didn't expect what you didn't want. She was just there for you when you needed her.

"Thank you," he added softly. Julie smiled. Maybe there was hope left.

What Julie didn't tell anyone, what nobody think about, was the scar. Sure, people worried how he got it, but what worried her was where. And the color. The scar was dangerously close to his neck and deep. It would probably still fade, it was pretty recent, maybe a month max. But if he hadn't moved his head from whatever, Dave would've been right.

**Thanks for reading! **

**I want to do more roommate stuff, since you seem to love them, so I've been thinking about that, and yes, they didn't really look into Percy's girl yet, but they will. Christine and Dave are not going to let anything slide anymore. Nathan's more oblivious than Percy, but even he can see Percabeth. **


End file.
